In 2025, fire departments serving Shorewood responded to 108 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
621 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92 | — | |
| 2022 | 180 | +95.7% | |
| 2023 | 123 | -31.7% | |
| 2024 | 118 | -4.1% | |
| 2025 | 108 | -8.5% |
For the 7 building fires Shorewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 24.8% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Shorewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 39.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 14 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shorewood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $300 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $300 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shorewood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,092 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 46.9 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Shorewood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.